TOUCH RUGBY
Beasts win Taipei final
The Taipei Beasts wrapped up a comfortable win in the final of the Taipei Touch Association’s Winter League at the Bailing rugby fields in Shilin District yesterday. The Taipei Hulks, who finished second on the ladder, had their line crossed regularly and picked up a consolation touchdown late on. Veteran Johan Koekemoer finished off the scoring with a dance to the line to make it 5-1. AyKang Galaxy finished third after unlocking the defenses of the Taipei Celts, winning 9-4 in their playoff, while KGB were fifth in the playoff for fifth and sixth against Taipei American School, winning 7-2. The school team are hosting an all-female tournament on Jan. 21.
SOCCER
Conceicao starts well
Coach Sergio Conceicao’s first Ligue 1 match in charge of struggling Nantes ended with a 2-0 win at Angers SCO on Friday. Veteran midfielder Guillaume Gillet scored in the first half and 19-year-old midfielder Amine Harit netted his first league goal shortly after halftime. The win moved Nantes up one place to 18th ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games. Conceicao, who made 56 appearances as a winger for Portugal, took over after Rene Girard was fired. His side beat Montpellier Herault 3-1 midweek to reach the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-finals.
RUGBY UNION
Goosen exit shocks Racing
French club champion Racing 92 were considering legal action after they were shocked by the retirement of 24-year-old Springboks back Johan Goosen on Friday. Goosen made “the unbelievable decision” to stop playing and return home to South Africa where he had “an alleged hiring as a commercial director,” Racing said in a statement on their Web site. Club president Jacky Lorenzetti said Goosen was making a mistake to end his playing career and not respecting a new contract in June that gave him three more years at the Paris-based club. “The club reserve the right to give such conduct all appropriate judicial follow-up, both with regard to Johan Goosen and those who advise him,” Lorenzetti said. Goosen joined Racing from the Cheetahs in 2014 and helped them win their first Top 14 title this year in 26 years. His ability to play across the backline earned him Top 14 player of the year and a recall to the Springboks after two years. He received seven more Test caps this year, the last just three weeks ago in Cardiff. Goosen was not in the Racing lineup who lost to Glasgow 23-7 on Friday in European Champions Cup pool play.
ICE HOCKEY
Eakin banned after charge
The National Hockey League on Friday announced that it was slapping Dallas Stars forward Cody Eakin with a four-game suspension for a charge on New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The incident occurred on Thursday halfway through the first period of their game. Canadian Eakin was assessed a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct for a heavy blow that knocked Lundqvist’s helmet off and sent him crashing to the ice. “First thing is the league better do something about that hit,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said after the game. “It’s everything you want to take away from the game.” Lundqvist, of Sweden, left the ice after the hit, but returned about five minutes later and completed a 2-0 shutout.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
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